Fresno State Athletics
Men's Hoops Ranked 22nd In AP Poll
1/22/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 22, 2001
By KILEY RUSSELL
Associated Press Writer
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Slowly, quietly, Fresno State has sneaked up on the elite of college basketball. That's just fine with coach Jerry Tarkanian.
The Bulldogs, coming off a 19-point second-half comeback victory over Nevada, were ranked No. 22 in The Associated Press college basketball poll Monday, their first appearance in the Top 25 since early in the 1997-98 season.
"Wow, I really didn't know that," said Tarkanian, who now has 749 career victories. "I really haven't paid any attention to the polls. If we keep doing a good job, it'll take care of itself."
Fresno State (16-2) enters the Top 25 on a 12-game winning streak. The Bulldogs, who started the Western Athletic Conference season 5-0, lost to St. Bonaventure in the second game of the season, then fell in double overtime to San Francisco.
The change came in the backcourt, Tarkanian said.
"We have a pure point guard now," he said. "Since (Tito) Maddox got eligible, we haven't lost a game. He gets the ball to the right people."
Stanford (17-0) was again at No. 1, getting 68 first-place votes and 1,748 points. The Cardinal won games against California and New Mexico last week by a total of 57 points.
Duke (17-1), which beat Boston College by 22 and Georgia Tech by 21, received two first-place votes and 1,677 points. Michigan State (15-1), which beat Ohio State 71-56 in its only game last week, had 1,607 points.
This is the seventh straight week those schools have been in the top three. For two weeks, it was Duke, Michigan State and Stanford, then Michigan State, Stanford and Duke for two more weeks before the Cardinal took over the top spot.
Kansas and North Carolina each moved up one place from last week to be fourth and fifth. Tennessee, which was the highest-ranked team to lose last week - 84-74 to Kentucky - fell from fourth to sixth. Illinois and Maryland each moved up four spaces to seventh and eighth, while Wake Forest and Georgetown were ninth and 10th, switching places from last week.
Syracuse, which lost to Seton Hall on Sunday, fell three spots to lead the Second Ten, followed by Arizona, Virginia, Florida, Wisconsin, Seton Hall, Iowa State, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas.
Texas (15-3) returned at No. 20 after a one-week absence. The Longhorns have won three straight, beating Connecticut, Texas A&M and Baylor.
Missouri (12-5) fell out of the rankings from No. 20 after being ranked for just one week. The Tigers lost road games this week to Kansas State and Virginia.
The last five ranked teams were Iowa, Fresno State, Boston College, Connecticut and Southern California.
Fresno State was 26th in last week's balloting.
"We have some depth," Tarkanian said. "We've had good competition in practice and that makes a lot of difference."
"But we still have 11 more league games and then we have our league tournament and hopefully the NCAA tournament. We've been playing really good, I just hope we can keep it up," he said.
The Men's Top Twenty Five
By The Associated Press
Record Pts Pvs1. Stanford (68) 17-0 1,748 12. Duke (2) 17-1 1,677 23. Michigan St. 15-1 1,607 34. Kansas 15-1 1,536 55. North Carolina 15-2 1,462 66. Tennessee 17-2 1,351 47. Illinois 15-4 1,316 118. Maryland 14-4 1,146 129. Wake Forest 14-3 1,113 1010. Georgetown 16-1 1,071 911. Syracuse 15-2 1,031 812. Arizona 12-5 985 1713. Virginia 13-3 973 1314. Florida 11-4 687 715. Wisconsin 11-4 642 1916. Seton Hall 12-5 621 1817. Iowa St. 15-3 539 2318. Alabama 14-3 491 1519. Mississippi 15-3 415 2120. Texas 15-3 397 -21. Iowa 14-4 371 1422. Fresno St. 16-2 259 -23. Boston College 13-2 245 2524. Connecticut 13-5 222 1525. Southern Cal 13-4 201 24
Others receiving votes: Oklahoma 139, Kentucky 68, Missouri 54, Minnesota 53, Oklahoma St. 47, Utah St. 38, Georgia 36, Coll. of Charleston 34, Xavier 31, Cincinnati 30, Notre Dame 22, Southern Miss. 15, St. Joseph's 14, Georgia Tech 11, Purdue 10, Arkansas 9, Pittsburgh 9, Vanderbilt 7, Mississippi St. 5, UCLA 5, Gonzaga 3, UTEP 2, Holy Cross 1, New Mexico 1.
